Saturday, July 31, 2010

Veterinarian Turns Away Dog Shot With Arrows

Jeremy Williams just returned from Iraq, as a member of the national guard. As such, he does not have an income and is currently on unemployment. After enjoying a nice dinner with friends, he returned home to find his home had been burglarized.

When Williams did the right thing by rushing his dog to an after-hours veterinary office, he was turned away.

Turned away! Standing before them was a dog in distress who needed immediate veterinary care and they turned him away! I just cannot get over that. I understand veterinarians need to make money, and I know they get burned when a client doesn't pay or follow through with monthly payments. But to turn away a dog in obvious distress and who may die without proper care is unconscionable.

Mr. Williams thought he would have to watch his dog die.

Instead, he called the local news station. I'm very glad he didn't do what one commenter suggested, which was to ask the veterinarian to kill the dog for free instead of treat him. The dog wasn't at death's door, people. Anyway, the station aired his story and two people came through. One woman was so generous that she drove out to the veterinarian, met the dog, and left a blank check with the hospital. Another person donated $100 toward the surgery.

Now Toby, the dog, is back home. He'll have permanent damage to his face where the arrow was lodged, but he'll recover. It appalls me to think he would have died b/c Mr. Williams couldn't afford expensive veterinary surgery.